Growing up, we are asked to examine our personal values to develop a sense of responsibility and empathy towards what is surrounding us. We are often told that our integrity comes from our fundamental beliefs, therefore leading us to live a better and more self-conscious life. Truth be told, our core values are actually deep-rooted from the moment we begin to understand the world around us.

As statistics show, our family and environment influence our personal values the most, followed by social and cultural ideas that influence our common core values, which often change once we start to perceive life in different ways. Ultimately, new life events might sometimes cause us to question our previously held values. In essence, identifying our principles is a key life-long process.

Identifying values is essential for creating your life compass: knowing what matters to you in your career or for your personal development gives you a better sense of direction and makes a true difference in your overall happiness. Let’s start the self-introspection process by learning more about the importance of core values!

What Are Core Values?

Core values are a set of principles, values, and practices that shape how people conduct their daily lives. These characteristics and attributes are not only desirable for the majority of us, but also set our foremost objectives, beliefs, and fundamental driving force. The principles and values you live by shape your personal development journey and define what you believe in.

Being the characteristics we choose to embody in our day-to-day life, our values determine the type of person we want to be, how we treat ourselves and others, and how we interact with the world around us. They lay out the groundwork for good behavior and make us distinguish between right or wrong and good or bad.

Why Are Core Values Important?

Having good examples of core values is crucial for your personal development journey as this will help you to make logical decisions based upon your needs. As a person who aims toward a better future, your own values can help you achieve your objectives. Rather than reflect upon your value, you can just react by making a rash decision that may slow the progress you’ve made so far.

As values shape how you respond to difficulties and define what you believe in, all the actions, decisions, and behaviors are all guided by them. Knowing what matters to you helps you feel incredibly fulfilled. Conversely, when you cannot identify the right core values, you feel a sense of discomfort that influences your overall life satisfaction.

Our core values exercise is set to help you better understand what is urging you to behave a certain way and benefit from the advantages of acknowledging your principles: they keep you on track, simplify decision-making, help you avoid mistakes, can help you solve tough problems and achieve self-confidence. 

Create Your Life Compass With The Values Exercise

Keep in mind that people do not necessarily choose their values. Many people have such values instilled in their bodies by their parents and others who have influenced their communities. You can live in a strong core without actually knowing it. However, creating a personal core values list can help you prioritize some aspects of your life that might be lacking related to your relationships, professional growth, or personal development journey.

Even though it may appear simple to choose values from a list, when thinking further, you may discover that the values left unselected are genuinely what you believe is best for you. Our values exercise was created to help you assess your principles for at least two weeks to determine whether you implement them in your daily decisions or not, so it helps you create your life compass. 

How Can You Identify Your Core Values?

Many people’s conscious minds will judge certain values to appear better than others when they come across a personal core values list. Based on your intended self-image, you will choose personal values that “sound nice.” The majority of us are oblivious to our own ideals. We are oblivious to what is most essential to us. Instead, we concentrate on the values that our society, culture, and media hold dear. Make an effort to determine why a certain thought is driving you to do something.

Start by asking yourself:

• What do I care about most? Why? What traits show up when I act in line with those things?
• When am I at my best? What qualities do I need to achieve that state?
• What have been some of my biggest “wins” in life? Why were they so important to me?
• What do I need to do to create meaningful relationships?
• What are some of the most important learnings in my life? Why did they leave such a mark?

The first section of our values exercise will help you with self-introspection by making you aware of the primary factors that you are basing your life on.

Make a List of Personal Core Values

The next step of our exercise challenges you to create a personal core values list. Out of the endless possibilities, choose the core values that are essential for you. Some values include appreciation, balance, compassion, creativity, community, faith, empathy, kindness, mindfulness, self-respect, wisdom, and wealth.

Start by comparing them to see if there is any overlap, categorize them, and select the best term to describe you. Keep in mind that your values require your attention in order to be a successful tool and truly help your self-introspection. Narrow the list down and determine your top five life principles. Which of the values you listed are most important to you? represents the question you need to answer.

Each fundamental value you choose should stand out from the rest. This aspect of the exercise might seem daunting. Write down your basic values, what they mean to you, and a couple of “gut-checks” to evaluate whether you’re on the right track. 

The final step of our values exercise is to ask at least five people you find trustworthy and ask them what values they sense in you. If they are open to it, they may use their own words to define what they believe to be a value of yours. Compare it to your list, and then write out the last five values and their definitions in your own words. After selecting your core values you will see the bigger picture of your life compass that will help you develop better self-consciousness. 

Values Are a Part of Your Happiness Journey

Knowing how to weave core values in your everyday life is the foremost condition to stay true to yourself and practice continuous learning. Whether it’s related to your professional development or meaningful relationships surrounding us, knowing your principles gives you a sense of stability.Reaching the state of mindfulness is achievable when you become aware of the importance of your values, goals, visions, habits, and environment. Our Happiness Journey program helps you better analyze important aspects of your life and make sure that you acknowledge and use them to achieve happiness.